Hogan Lovell OffshoreBook 2023 230809 OnlinePDF - Flipbook - Page 70
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an OWF of a chosen capacity at a chosen
site that is not be subject to state reservations. The developer would bear all costs of
developing and constructing the OWF and
would also reap any profits. On 1 February
2023, the DEA decided to suspend its case
processing of applications received under
the open-door procedure due to doubts
as to whether the open-door procedure is
compliant with EU state aid law since the
state does not obtain any payments from
the concessionaires. As of 20 April 2023, it
remains uncertain to which extent the opendoor procedure will be available for future
construction of OWFs in Denmark.
Denmark plans to establish two energy islands; an artificial island in the Danish North
Sea and an energy island at Bornholm in the
Baltic Sea, respectively. The energy islands
shall serve as hubs for electricity produced
from surrounding OWFs which are distributed to the Danish electricity grid, including
Danish PtX projects (green hydrogen and
e-fuels), or exported to neighbouring countries. Denmark has entered into political
agreements with Germany, Belgium, and the
Netherlands regarding cooperation on cable
connections from the energy islands.
There is political support to expand the
capacity of the North Sea Energy Island OWF
from 3-4 GW in 2033 to 10 GW in 2040 as a
sighting point while observing the needs for
cable connections to neighbouring countries.
Denmark
2. THE OFFSHORE WIND
PROMOTION SYSTEM
The Danish State owns the right to utilise
energy from wind within the Danish territorial waters and the Danish EEZ. Therefore, any
utilisation of such energy by an OWF developer requires a licence from the state issued
by the DEA. Such licences can be obtained in
two ways – through an open-door or tender
procedure. The licenses are time limited.
(a) Open-door procedure
The OWFs established through the opendoor procedure can cover areas which
have not been designated for other use
in a spatial plan. The project developer
takes the initiative to build an OWF in a
specific area by submitting an unsolicited
application for a licence to carry out preliminary investigations. Since 1 July 2022,
it is required that the OWFs are located
within 15 km from the shoreline. The
relevant local municipalities can object
to the granting of a licence for a coastal
OWF to be established under the opendoor procedure.
The open-door procedure was suspended on 1 February 2023 due to doubts
as to whether the open-door procedure
is compatible with EU state aid law since
the state would receive no payments
from the concessionaires. As of 20 April
2023, clarification awaits from the EU
Commission on whether the procedure
is compliant with EU state aid rules. It is,
therefore, uncertain to which extent the
open-door procedure will be available for
future development of OWFs in Denmark.
